Patterns are optimal solutions to common problems. As common problems are tossed around a community and are resolved, common solutions often spontaneously emerge. Eventually, the best of these rise above the din and self-identify and become refined until they reach the status of a Design Pattern. Architect Christopher Alexander was the first to name this phenomenon with respect to living spaces. He and his co-writers introduced the concept of Architecture Patterns to describe features that living spaces share whether they be rooms, buildings or towns.
Patterns are atomic in that they can be grouped to form more complex patterns: a chair pattern nests within a dining room pattern that nests within a house pattern that nests within a town pattern. One idea that distinguishes Patterns from simple prescriptions is that Patterns never lose sense of their context; they describe things that work together and the rules that govern those collections. Software patterns have found great resonance in the software industry, particularly among those using Agile Methodologies. Some people have been inspired to document WebsitePatterns along the same lines.
1. Pattern Repositories
2. Online Articles, Papers
3. Books
4. Discussion
posted by Marcus Zillman |
5:48 AM
